SAN JOSE – The Silver Creek High School football team needed something to charge it up following its scoreless first half.

A sophomore with his first interception at any level provided that lift.

Elijah Thomas returned an interception 53 yards to put the Raiders (2-0) on the scoreboard. Silver Creek outscored visiting Saratoga 27-6 in the second half to win 27-13.

“That was a spark. Right when we needed it, too. Big-time play, and he’s a sophomore,” said Silver creek coach Eric Luescher.

Silver Creek trailed 7-0 at halftime and only had 44 yards of total offense. But on Saratoga’s opening drive of the second half, Thomas took his interception down the left sideline.

“They ran a screen, and I saw it, so I kind of stayed back and kind of hid under it,” Thomas said. “I just jumped up and took it back. It kind of got our game going.”

Silver Creek then ran a “Swinging Gate” on the extra-point conversion, as Ricky Anaya passed to Gabe Trejo for an 8-7 Raiders lead. Silver Creek never trailed again, as it scored 21 straight points against the Falcons (1-1).

The Raiders then took its next drive 53 yards in only four plays. Angelo Amezcua, another sophomore, rushed for 32 of his team-high 69 yards on that drive, which was capped by a 21-yard pass from Alejandro Flores to Josh Garca.

Silver Creek increased its lead to two touchdowns on the first play of the fourth quarter when Thomas scored on a tough 8-yard run.
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Saratoga opened the game’s scoring in the first quarter with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Payton Stokes to Max Muilenburg. But the Falcons only reached the end zone once more, on a 20-yard pass from Stokes to JJ Wang with 9 minutes, 40 seconds left in the game.

Silver Creek set up its final touchdown with another big defensive play. Andrik Navarro forced a fumble, and Jordan Thomas (Elijah’s senior brother) pounced on the ball on the Saratoga 1. Flores then ran up the middle for the 27-13 Silver Creek advantage.